John Farrier's Blog Posts

Frozen Dead Guy Days: An Annual Festival in a Tiny Colorado Town

Bredo Morstoel of Norway was 89 years old when he died in 1989. His frozen corpse is now the center of an annual party in Nederland, Colorado.

There's quite a bit to unpack here. The official website for Frozen Dead Guy Days details how Morstoel's grandson had the old man cryogenically frozen in California. After four years of deep freeze, the family was forced to abandon the body in a crudely-built cryogenic storage shed in the little town of Nederland.

Starting in 1995, local resident Bo Shaffer and his friends visited the body every month to repack it in dry ice. And every March, they threw a big party about their hobby. This party has grown into a festival with live bands, drinking, and coffin racing, which you can see pictured above. Participants call themselves Frostifarians.

They had to cancel this past March, but plan to relaunch it next year. It looks like a wonderfully lively carnival!

-via Ace of Spades HQ | Photo: Frozen Dead Guy Days


A Second Monolith Appears

Or maybe it's the same monolith that inexplicably appeared, then disappeared, in Utah last week. The construction of this monolith on Pine Mountain in Atascadero, California is definitely cruder, suggesting that's an imitation of the original alien object. Atascadero News describes it:

The three-sided obelisk appeared to be made of stainless steel, 10-feet tall and 18 inches wide. The object was welded together at each corner, with rivets attaching the side panels to a likely steel frame inside. The top of the monument did not show any weld marks, and it appears to be hollow at the top, and possibly bottom.
Unlike its Utah sibling, the Atascadero obelisk was not attached to the ground, and could be knocked over with a firm push. The Atascadero News estimates it weighs about 200 pounds.
The material appeared to be stainless steel, similar to a hood above the stove in a commercial kitchen.

So it's more likely to be from pranksters rather than our actual alien visitors.

-via Celine D. Ryanย | Photo: Atascadero News


Eye of the Moon

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The moon is one of landscape photographer Zach Cooley's favorite subjects. Last October, he nailed his timing when capturing a shot of the moon passing through the opening of a natural arch. With humans resting on the edge, it looks like the eye of a god.

-via Astronomy Picture of the Day


How to Eat a Cake with Wine Glasses

At your office Christmas party, you may find that you don't have enough plates to serve everyone cake. So, once you have drunk all of the wine, just slip the upended glasses over the cake to slice off a piece. Then you can spoon it into your mouth. Or just be the first person to grab a chunk of cake with your hands, which is my usual approach.

-via Born in Space


Bomb Purse

Are you heading to the airport for some holiday travel? Impress your fellow travelers with your refined sense of fashion with this purse by Etsy seller ConcaveOblivion. It's available in a variety of leather colors and finishes. The timer, which looks delightfully realistic, has a secret compartment that you'll need if people keep staring at your handbag.


Jazz Bagpipes Exists and Is Amazing

It is a truth universally acknowledged that all music is improved with the inclusion of bagpipes. Yet, until I heard of it today, I did not know that prudent jazz musicians have adopted the pipes.

This is Gunhild Carling, a performer of many talents. She is most famous for her work with the trumpet (or 3 trumpets simultaneously). In this 2014 performance in New York City, she works her magic with bagpipes. Her actual piping begins at the 1:04 mark.

For another treat, watch Carling playing "Happy" by Pharrell Williams while switching between ten different instruments.

-via Super Punch


This Lock Illustrates Snow White

Frank L. Koralewsky (1872-1941), a German-born American metalsmith, made this amazing lock that tells the fairy tale of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves." It's made of iron, gold, silver, and bronze. The lock won Korwalewsky a gold metal at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915. It's now the property of the Art Institute of Chicago.

-via Nag on the Lake | Photo: Art Institute of Chicago


The Spam Amp

Spam brings joy to our hearts, stomachs, and now our ears. The Spamp Man, a mysterious engineer in Liverpool, UK invented several different versions of this musical feast. What does this Spam-canned guitar amplifier do? Spamp Man explains:

SPICE adjusts the gain prior to the distortion stage.
HEAT adjusts the post distortion signal level going on to your amp or following effects.
The SPICE and HEAT controls have a detente at 50% to help with location when you are not looking or it is dark.
CHILLED no distortion, just the warm tone of JFET amplification.
FRIED a subtle application of even harmonics for a warm fuzz.
GRILLED blends in odd harmonics for a meatier, overdrive sound.

It sounds delicious!

-via The Awesomer


Why Halifax Sends A Christmas Tree to Boston Every Year

Every year, the people of Halifax, Nova Scotia, send a grand tree to be erected in Boston Common. Why? It's an annual act of gratitude for disaster relief provided to the Canadian city of Halifax over a century ago.

It's December 6, 1917. Canada has been at war for three and a half years. The United States has been an ally in that war for several months. There is a feeling of fraternity between the two nations. That feeling would be strengthened that day and soon afterward.

A French ship packed with explosives blew up in the city's harbor. It was a catastrophic explosion that killed 1,963 people, injured 9,000, and destroyed much of the city. Then a blizzard struck the beleaguered city.

As the Twitter feed for Canadian armed forces in the US describes, the outpouring of help from Americans was huge and immediately. A US warship, the USS Tacoma, immediately steamed to Halifax. The people of Massachusetts raised nearly $2 million in relief funding within an hour and sent a train with doctors and nurses twelve hours after the blast. In a single day, the Maine National Guard established a hospital in Halifax. This American help continued for several months.

Halifax was and remains grateful for what Americans did during the disaster. And so, every year, they cut down a good tree and send it to Boston as an ongoing way to say "Thank you, America."

-via Nag on the Lake | Photo: Canadian Forces in the US


Mysterious Monolith in the Desert Vanishes

Last week, a strange metal object reminiscent of the monoliths from the book and movie 2001 appeared in a Utah desert. Its origin and purpose were unknown to local humans who investigated.

The state Bureau of Land Management now reports that the monolith has inexplicably vanished without a trace. In a Facebook post, the BLM makes it clear that it wants nothing to do with the possibly alien object:

The BLM did not remove the structure which is considered private property. We do not investigate crimes involving private property which are handled by the local sheriffโ€™s office.

-via Instapundit | Photo: Utah Bureau of Land Management


Pac-Man Art from a Nintendo Controller

Redditor jonny00490 heated, shaped, and then glued the cable of a Nintendo controller into the shape of Pac-Man and his nemesis Blinky. It looks like a simple craft, but took a long time to perfect:

I did it in lots of small stages. Warm the cable a bit so it can more easily be bent into a rough shape and let cool, then I glued it down in prob 2 inch sections.. glue takes 24hrs to harden fully so I'd weigh that section down then come back for the next bit. That's why it took so long.

Little Kid Turns Cabinet into Home Office

Like many of us, preschooler Noah is working from home. He's had to set up a home office that allows him to work without being disturbed by noisy family members. His mom, Blair Monique Walker, found that office inside a cabinet. It becomes necessary for him to be firm about his work time and shoo her out.

-via Born in Space


The Challurkey

Get it? It's a challah loaf shaped like a turkey.

Twitter user Joshua H. Pollack, if I understand him correctly, makes a challurkey every year, gradually improving his craft.

Professionally, Pollack is "a leading expert on nuclear and missile proliferation, focusing on Northeast Asia." So it follows that baking is his side gig.

-via Super Punch


Hats for Sea Urchins

In the front is an urchin with a fedora at a rakish tilt. Bringing up the rear is a friend wearing a pork pie hat. It's trendy among aquarists (people who maintain aquaria) to dress up sea urchins as fashionable dandies. All that's necessary to look right is a 3D printed hat (although you may need additional clothing before going outside). Sea urchins habitually cover themselves with objects to protect themselves from predators and excess light, so they'll gladly take the hats.

One hobbyist named riosouza describes his own 3D printed urchin hats:

After seen my sea urchins carrying snail shells, rocks on their back I decide to read more about it.
Studies reviewed the possible reasons would be to protect themselves against predators and/or full-spectrum light source, mainly against UV rays.
Then I decided to do a quick design for a 3d printed hat, and for my surprise they absolutely love it.
Since I replace the rocks and shells from their back with the hats, they never let it go, and I was astonished to see they moving the hats towards the light source. Which leads me to the conclusion they certainly use it against excessive UV rays.

-via My Modern Met | Photo: /u/VanillaBean5813


Amazing Loaves by Joy Huang

Joy Huang is a master of every tool in the kitchen, but she specializes in breads. Her sourdough loaves can be particularly inventive, such as this Thanksgiving-appropriate loaf shaped like a turkey.

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Profile for John Farrier

  • Member Since 2012/08/04


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